Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 5, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 5, 1997, 3:52 PM MST for Coconino County, Arizona. It was in force for 118 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 5, 1997, 3:52 PM MST (22:52 UTC)
Expired
Sep 5, 1997, 5:50 PM MST
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Coconino County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:53 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 68 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 157 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
157 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1397 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KFLG 052253
FFWFLG
AZC005-060050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
352 PM MST FRI SEP 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 550 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTHWESTERN COCONINO COUNTY
 
AT 350 PM MST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER NORTHWEST COCONINO
COUNTY.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE
VILLAGE OF SUPAI.  THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER
LITTLE COYOTE CANYON AND HUALAPAI CANYON.  RADAR RAINFALL
ESTIMATES INDICATED THAT UP TO ONE AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN PER
HOUR WAS FALLING WITH THIS STORM.
 
IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UPHILL TO ESCAPE
FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER
BEGINS RISING.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 5, 2:03 PM MST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 2:03 PM MST, 1 hour 49 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
200 PM MST FRI SEP 5 1997

CU FORMED ALONG THE ERN MOGOLLON RIM FIRST THIS MORNING...MUCH THE
WAY IT WAS EXPECTED TO. LOOKS LIKE FORCING FOR TS TODAY PRETTY MUCH
LIMITED TO SFC HEATING. OUTFLOW MAY HELP TO INITIATE CONVECTION OFF
THE RIM DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON...BUT AFTER SUNSET THE SKIES OVER
NRN AZ SHOULD START CLEARING. A FINE WAY TO WELCOME THE WEEKEND.

IT LOOKS LIKE MORE OF THE SAME WILL TAKE US THROUGH THE WEEKEND. LOW
LEVEL RH SHOULD STAY HIGH ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED TS ALONG THE HIGH
TERRAIN...ISOLATED ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE FLG CWFA. THE H5 VORTICITY
FIELD SHOWS A MAX MOVING THROUGH WRN AZ DURING THE DAY SUNDAY. WITH
INCREASING MOISTURE SHOOTING UP FROM THE SOUTH...WILL PROBABLY TURN
UP THE NOTCH FOR THE WRN HALF OF THE CWFA. NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH ATTM
TO CALL IT LIKELY...BUT WILL GO WITH HIGHER POPS AND STRONGER WORDING
DURING PD 4. WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES STILL AROUND AN INCH...
THESE AREAS OF AZ MIGHT SEE STRONG CONVECTION WITH HEAVY RAIN BEING
THE MAIN PROBLEM. CONFUSING THE ISSUE ARE THE PROGGED THTE VALUES
WHICH LOOK ON THE LOW SIDE...BUT I GIVE HIGHER WEIGHT TO SFC HEATING
AND DYNAMICS THIS TIME OF YEAR.

DAYTIME TEMPS SHOULD ACTUALLY DECREASE SLIGHTLY AS THE ERN PAC TROF
MOVES EAST...LOWERING HGHTS JUST A BIT THROUGH THE WEEKEND. OVERNIGHT
LOWS SHOULDN'T CHANGE MUCH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT AND PERSISTENCE
SHOULD WORK OUT FINE THERE.

IN THE EXTENDED...ALEUTIAN LOW PROGGED TO MAKE IT'S WAY SOUTHEAST TO
CHANGE THE PATTERN FOR NRN AZ BY THE MIDDLE TO END OF NEXT WEEK. FOR
NOW...A GENERAL SCATTERED HIGH COUNTRY TS FORECAST COVERS THE
EXTENDED WELL AND WE MAY GET TO CHANGE THIS WORDING IN THE NEXT FEW
DAYS.

FLG 3535 INW 3333
PEREZ
FLG...NONE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 1:35 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai60 min
Sep 5, 1:35 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai60 min
Sep 5, 3:27 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino2 hr
Sep 5, 4:34 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino46 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.